Carrie vs. Carrie

Our newest guestblogger Mónica L.C. will be taking a closer look at adaptations and how they hold up next to the original. Are they true to the book, should they even be? First up is the 2013 remake of Carrie and the original novel by Stephen King.

I feel really disappointed with this movie. First of all, I didn’t like the actress chosen, Chloe Grace Moretz, because she doesn’t show that instability which defines Carrie White. Then there were some scenes from the movie that didn’t even exist in the book. I didn’t really expect to find that the movie would be completely faithful to the book, because most movies based on books aren’t, but I’m not sure if adding new scenes was the best idea.

Let’s first talk about the characters. Like I said, Carrie wasn’t really unstable. Actually, she was just like a normal girl being bullied. This made the character in the movie much less dramatic and psycho than she actually is in the book. Then we have Mrs. Desjardin (Carrie’s gym teacher) who isn’t tough and stiff like the character in the novel, but who actually acts more like her friend. Lastly, Carrie’s mother in the movie is practically supportive of Carrie, a complete change from the original in which the mother is quite cruel and indifferent.

Scenes out of place in the movie which appeared in the book: After the scene in the showers, Carrie is sent home in the book. In the adaption however, the principal called her mothe and therefore the scene between Carrie and the kid takes place in a different location. I also thought there weren’t enough religious exhibitions in her house, which was very different from the way I imagined it anyway. When Carrie’s mother sends her to the wardrobe, I imagined a small and claustrophobic place but it was totally the opposite. The remake is a modern-day version of the book, much more modern than any other adaptations. They introduced cyber bullying to Carrie’s torture, adding Facebook and the internet to make her life a living hell. Finally Chris (one of Carrie’s main bullies) doesn’t come with Billy and his friends to get the pigs blood.

Scenes that didn’t appear in the book: As said, cyber bullying wasn’t a thing back in 1974. Also Carrie wouldn’t hang out in a pool with other girls. In the movie, Carrie’s mother self-mutilates and they added a scene where she opens the door looking all bloody when Carrie had locked her in. Later Sue didn’t get out of her house until she saw the smoke coming from the school. After the school dance scene, Carrie comes home and showered instead of trying to kill her mother. Then her mother tells her she loves her and starts praying. Carrie stays in the house with her mother when she telekinetically makes rocks fall on it and dies right there instead of burning the whole place down and dying outside later on.

Things they should have done in the movie: Show Carrie’s thoughts and mention the incident Carrie had when she was little with her neighbors. Another scene at the start of the novel, where the rocks fall on the White’s house make her mother much more crazy and paranoid. This would have been a good addition to the movie and would have added to the mother’s character.

I would rate this 2013 remake of Carrie with a 2/5. In my opinion, it does not reflect the true essence of the book, which is that Carrie is different due to her problems with her mother. What follows with the telekinesis and the bullying at school is then only the climax to the tragic events that take place, not the catalyst for them. It definitely didn’t do the book justice.

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